September 2019 | Issue Three, Volume Ten |
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In This Issue:
- What people are saying
- Did you know?
- Consumers jumpstart their savings using FinTech apps
- More than a hundred turn out for money management trainings, despite the heat
- Hotline Chronicles: TV provider disputes lead to missing channels
- Coalition Efforts: Reining in robocalls, college costs and data loss
- CFPB Watch: Is the fox guarding the hen house?
- Class Action Database: Massage Envy to ease the tension with vouchers
- About Consumer Action
What people are saying
[Thank you for] responding [to my complaint] with answers. [I was] surprised at [your] speed of response and excellent referrals! [It’s typically] very difficult for average consumers to get advice/help with problem companies. — Wilda Wilson, North Carolina (via Consumer Action’s Hotline feedback survey)
Did you know?
Widely available direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits from popular companies such as AncestryDNA, 23andMe and MyHeritage have the potential to jeopardize your privacy and that of your relatives, along with your health and even your financial wellbeing. This Investor’s Business Daily article outlines five of the key reasons why Americans should think twice before buying a DNA testing kit, including that “many direct-to-consumer testing companies have signed lucrative data-sharing contracts with pharmaceutical firms.” Consumer privacy rights are bad business for the DNA testing industry, which is probably why it’s been reported that Ancestry, 23andMe and Helix are spending big and lobbying hard to block federal privacy provisions that might require more stringent rules for DNA testing than for other consumer data.
Consumers jumpstart their savings using FinTech apps
Consumer Action provided over 100 participants with FinTech education and access to savings and credit building tools. The results were encouraging: 47 of the program participants saved a combined $22,000! The work was funded by a partnership pilot grant that was awarded to high-performing organizations with strong potential for financial health impact. READ MORE....
More than a hundred turn out for money management trainings, despite the heat
Although the summer was a scorcher in the Mid-Atlantic region, more than a hundred participants turned out for our July Money Management 1-2-3 trainings, affirming the need for financial education instruction for groups that serve low-income and underserved populations. READ MORE....
Hotline Chronicles: TV provider disputes lead to missing channels
High-profile “retransmission” negotiations between programmer companies and pay-TV companies can stall, leading to subscriber black-outs. Unfortunately for one man who contacted our hotline, as well as millions of his fellow pay-TV subscribers, an equitable solution is elusive. READ MORE....
Coalition Efforts: Reining in robocalls, college costs and data loss
Consumer Action often joins its allies in letters, comments and complaints calling for change, standing up for consumer rights, supporting or opposing proposed laws and objecting to corporate misbehavior, among other activities. We collect these in the Coalition Efforts section of our website. Each month in the INSIDER we highlight some recent activities. READ MORE....
CFPB Watch: Is the fox guarding the hen house?
In this regular feature, we detail recent actions taken by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This month, we report on how a student loan industry exec has been chosen to lead the CFPB's ombudsman's office, which is tasked with providing assistance to student loan borrowers, many of whom have been victimized by the lending industry, and we examine a pending settlement in a 2016 debt collection case, which may return money to deceived and harassed consumers. READ MORE....
Class Action Database: Massage Envy to ease the tension with vouchers
Consumer Action maintains a database of class actions so that interested consumers can learn more, join a pending action or make a claim. Class action lawsuits are an important element of consumer protection and can force changes to anti-consumer business practices and make bad actors return ill-gotten gains to consumers. READ MORE....
Consumer Action has been a champion of underrepresented consumers nationwide since 1971. A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Consumer Action focuses on consumer education that empowers low- and moderate-income and limited-English-speaking consumers to financially prosper. It also advocates for consumers in the media and before lawmakers to advance consumer rights and promote industry-wide change.
By providing consumer education materials in multiple languages, a free national hotline, a comprehensive website (www.consumer-action.org) and annual surveys of financial and consumer services, Consumer Action helps consumers assert their rights in the marketplace and make financially savvy choices. Nearly 7,000 community and grassroots organizations benefit annually from its extensive outreach programs, training materials and support.
